Volume 3 Chapter 24 A Good Day To Act On A Thought
"Wait, can we actually use ghosts as materials?"
Randy's surprised voice made Liz nod slowly. The busy club room fell silent for a moment. Annabelle broke the silence, sounding like she just remembered something.
"I think there was something like that in the old documents from the Occult Research Club..."
As she said this, Annabelle hurried out of the beast research club and probably went back to the occult research club next door. You could still hear some noise from the other side of the wall, like she was looking for some documents.
"How can we use them?"
"Well..."
From Liz's hesitation, it seemed like Ellie knew they could be used, but didn't know how. In the awkward silence, Annabelle rushed back into the room with a stack of papers.
"I think there's something in these documents that mentions it."
She spread the papers out on the table, and everyone exchanged glances before silently picking up the documents. The papers were really old, but surprisingly, the ink was still clear and the paper wasn't too damaged.
(These must be experiments and studies about ghosts from a long time ago...)
Randy picked up what looked like the cover. The table of contents started with experiments on capturing ghosts and eventually led to philosophical questions about where ghosts come from and where they go.
It seemed like the capturing experiments Annabelle was doing now were based on these documents.
As they flipped through the other papers, they found some pretty dark stuff.
A net-like capturing tool.
A container to hold ghosts.
Attempts to find a ghost's acquaintances.
Experiments and studies on sunlight.
Experiments applying pressure to containers with ghosts inside.
The effects of holy water.
Many of these experiments seemed pretty unethical, especially if they were dealing with the spirits of deceased people. For Randy, who used to be Japanese, it felt wrong to just look at a spirit that might belong to someone's ancestor... but there were also many interesting findings.
"Even with pressure, there was no change... but once, a ghost couldn't maintain its form and turned into a crystal."
When Luke read this, Randy raised his eyebrows and asked, "A crystal?"
"Yeah. But unfortunately, it seems like the documents after this are missing."
"Really? The experiments with sunlight are also completely lost."
Cecilia was surprised, and Annabelle nodded, explaining that all the detailed methods and results of various experiments were gone. She also mentioned that this might have led to a loss of definition for what a ghost is. The details of the experiments and what the crystal was like were also missing.
"Isn't the occult research club basically a real research facility?"
Randy couldn't hide his surprise at how technical everything was. This wasn't something students would normally do for fun. But it made sense... Annabelle revealed that it used to be a research facility.
The Royal Academy was originally a place for studying and doing cutting-edge research, kind of like a modern university. But due to the rise of the Central Nobility and their interests, the research part got separated and became what it is now.
So, the occult research club is really just a leftover from that 'research lab.'
"Then, do you think there are any documents left in the national research facility?"
"If so, the definition of ghosts might be widely recognized..."
Randy scratched his head, feeling a bit sorry for Annabelle. "That makes sense."
"I'm definitely curious about ghost materials and their existence... but right now, the camera is more important."
Randy sighed heavily and put the documents back. Cecilia looked up from the paper she was reading and said, "Actually, that's not entirely true."
"It seems like the last page of the ghost study is still here."
Cecilia, unable to hide her excitement, handed a paper to Randy.
"Don't you want to know the last sentence?"
Cecilia was talking about the last line in a paragraph that discussed the usefulness of ghost materials.
──It might be an exaggeration to say it could preserve events in the world, but it could at least help with long-term storage of documents. They thought about trying it with this paper.
The ink was still clear.
The paper was not too damaged.
They had believed it to be just a preservative, but it turned out to be something far more magical.
(It can hold events in the world... I'm curious about the ghosts, but more than anything, this is──)
It seems like a good material for a camera. If it can keep the state of things at that moment, it might even work with Valion's light-sensitive paper.
"This means we definitely need to catch a ghost."
Randy couldn't help but smile, and the other members nodded enthusiastically. Maybe they could figure out the mystery of ghosts and speed up the camera project at the same time.
"Is there a place nearby where we can catch a ghost──."
Suddenly turning around, Randy made Annabelle jump and open her mouth.
"W-well, if it's nearby... there are some at the school──."
"Are there ghosts at school?!"
Randy forgot to keep his cool and turned to Liz, excitedly saying, "They say there are ghosts at school!"
"B-but at the school──."
Liz froze, and Cecilia poked her, asking, "What's wrong?"
"W-well, should we go check it out? We need to borrow a key, though."
Annabelle spoke hesitantly, glancing at Liz, and Randy replied with a hesitant "Y-yeah." He knew Liz was scared, but they had to catch a ghost; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.
"I'll just wait here──."
"Who's going to protect Liz? We're going."
"W-wait! I need to prepare myself──."
Dragging a reluctant Liz along, the 6 of them headed to the place where ghosts were said to appear at school.
* * *
They arrived at an old building at the far end of the school grounds.
"I think this is the old school building──."
"Yes, it is."
Randy frowned as he turned to see Annabelle, who was fully geared up. She was wearing a jumpsuit and goggles that looked out of place. It was like a joke from the staff had come to life, but no one else said anything.
"This is a rare place where we can catch ghosts at school."
Just like Annabelle said, this building and the surrounding area were part of the old school. It was said to be over a thousand years old and had been used as a research facility long before the school was founded hundreds of years ago.
They kept it standing because of its historical value and its usefulness as a storage space. But over time, ghosts started appearing, and now it was used for a different purpose.
"They say the spirits of female and male students appear in the old school building."
In front of the haunted house, Annabelle spoke confidently, while Liz stood silently, looking pale. She kept repeating, "Why are the students ghosts..." like a curse.
"By the way, the fifth mystery of the Seven Wonders, 'The Twilight Corridor,' also takes place in this old school."
Annabelle proudly explained one of the Royal Academy's Seven Wonders.
Five. The Endless Twilight Corridor
In the old school, on the west side of the third floor of the training building, there's said to be a curse from a student who died long ago. A girl was dumped by her boyfriend and hanged herself in the school in the evening. Since then, at twilight, the corridor where she and her boyfriend spent time never leads to an exit.
The dead girl's feelings of not wanting her boyfriend to leave her created this endless corridor.
As Annabelle explained the Seven Wonders, Liz instinctively covered her ears. But now that they were here, they had to catch a ghost.
"Since we're here, I want to see the Seven Wonders too..."
Annabelle looked apologetic as she continued, saying it was too dangerous for her to reach the third floor. She had originally thought about asking a teacher or adventurer for protection, but now she had Randy and Luke, who were confident in their strength.
"This is perfect. It's just about evening; maybe we'll run into something?"
"I don't know, but the chances are high!"
With Annabelle and Randy leading the way, the rest of the group pushed Liz forward as they entered the old school.
* * *
From a distance on the school rooftop, someone was watching Randy and the others disappear into the old school through a telescope.
"Why are they going to the old school building?"
Catherine frowned, feeling a bit lonely today. Chris got suspended, so the other 3 are currently being questioned by the principal and Chris's dad. Catherine usually hangs out with them, but she got let go from the questioning early.
The reason is pretty simple... People think that the fight over Catherine between the 4 of them led to Chris, who is seen as a serious student, getting caught drinking.
Since Catherine is involved, they couldn't ask her too many questions, so she was released quickly with just some basic questions. Now, with some unexpected free time, Catherine was looking through a telescope she bought on the day she decided to keep an eye on Liz.
"The old school building, that one where ghosts are supposed to appear, right? Isn't it locked up after evening?"
Catherine sighed, thinking, "The staff should really do their job." In games, the old school building is always locked up after evening, and you can't get in.
Because of school rules, access to the old building is limited, but groups like Annabelle's occult club can get permission to enter for ghost research. Of course, Catherine doesn't know any of this.
"If they can get in at this time... does that mean there's some extra event happening?"
Catherine's gaming instincts made her think that Liz and Randy must have a reason for being there.
She realized that the story was already falling apart. But she also knew that sometimes, events happen even in strange situations. From these two thoughts, she suspected that Liz and the others had some kind of event planned for the old school building.
(The old school building, where ghosts appear, might have an event. Could it be one of the 7 mysteries?)
Catherine remembered the games she knew. There weren't really any events or storylines in the old school building, just some useless items. After all, it was basically a practice dungeon meant for tutorials.
The only thing that got players excited was the information about the 7 mysteries at the school. Many players searched for clues about the 7 mysteries, but it turned out to be just some extra text.
Was it a lack of effort from the developers?
Or was it a money or time issue?
Anyway, she knew that back then, people were questioning why they even created such a pointless setting and building just to have some text about the 7 mysteries.
"If they're adding an event to that useless space, I can understand."
Looking through the telescope again, Catherine saw flickering will-o'-the-wisps inside the old school building.
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